# I want to cry - wet cigars



## n3uka (Nov 13, 2006)

I was asked to check what year my boli pcs where. 
When i opened the wine coolerdor i noticed that the
back had condensation and the rear ledge had a puddle.

Unfortunately my bolis and hdm epi #1s cabs had been in the moisture.

I was lucky to catch it early. I had just turned the cooler on a couple
days ago. I thought thermoelectric coolers didn't have condensation problems?

Emptied the cabs into boxes I had and seperated the wet ones. The wet ones
are in a humi with some dry beads. Had to throw out a couple that looked hopeless. 
Hoping the batch doesn't get mold and the wet ones recover?
Figure I will still lose a couple hdms

The fridge is now off, the ac turned up and I will be getting another cooler
tomorrow to use till I get it figured out.

I guess my habanos license is going to be revoked.


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## Pete (Feb 27, 2007)

That really sucks. You made me actually get up and check my fridge. 

Sorry about the loss. Seriously.


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## newcigarz (Feb 11, 2007)

Sucks man. sorry to hear that.


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## adsantos13 (Oct 10, 2006)

Damn...makes me wanna cry! Good that you caught it early and looks like youll be able salvage a good amount of the smokes...

Did you have the boxes up against the back wall? Did you have the drainage plugged? When I was modding my wine cooler I noticed there would be a buildup of condensation which would drip down the wall and onto the floor when I plugged the drainage. I unplugged it and never had any pooling afterwards, but just to be safe I keep everything in there off the floor and the back wall. 

It kind of stinks, cause you def. have to recharge the beads more often this way, but if you just stuff an excessive amount of beads in there its more manageable...


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## zemekone (Aug 1, 2004)

n3uka said:


> I thought thermoelectric coolers didn't have condensation problems?


they dont have consensation problems, but when u add beads or a cigar oaisis then u add moisture, it has to go somewhere...


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## BP22 (Apr 13, 2006)

Bummer...sorry. And it was a *POS* cab...:hn


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## havana_lover (Feb 15, 2007)

wow that is not good news.. with something like that I would check everything every few days, just to be sure.. 

goodluck


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## TMoneYNYY (Oct 6, 2006)

That seriously makes me sad... I know I will never that many delicious ISOMs, and BOLI's at that, too! Godspeed, my friend!!!!!


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## j6ppc (Jun 5, 2006)

Regrets.


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## RPB67 (Mar 26, 2005)

Bummer !!

Fix that problem and hurry.

You can always dry them out and smokem up !


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## Sandman (Mar 26, 2006)

Man i'm sorry to see that. I would freak out if this ever happened to me. I hope they all recover nicely.


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## stogie_kanobie_one (Feb 9, 2006)

In my experience thermoelectric units can indeed cause moisture. I'm not sure why consensus says they do not. A solution that will help to mitigate this is to put a temperature controller on your unit. This way the the unit will kick in to initially get the temperature down then once the temperature is in the sweet spot it should kick in much less often. This will cause less condensate. I experienced the same thing on a unit that I ran 24x7 initially. This was with or without any additional source of humidification. I tried various tests to come to that conclusion. The temperature controller was the only thing that helped. Be advised though if you ever go through a really hot spell, even with the temperature controller unit, if the thermoelectric unit kicks in long enough condensate can still form. :2

It's a matter of controlling the condensation.

Oh added: I think the cigars you saved will smoke just fine once they dry out a bit. They may just wrinkle a bit... Enjoy them


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## raisin (Dec 3, 2005)

havana_lover said:


> wow that is not good news.. with something like that I would check everything every few days, just to be sure..
> 
> goodluck


Mold grows very quickly, maybe check twice a day to startwhile they are visibly wet. Opening the humidor is a good thing in this case, you need to dissapate all that humidity.
I would also suggest spacing out the cigars from each other (remember klugs lincoln logs? ) to allow more air movement and quicker drying. Got an Oust?


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## Ashcan Bill (Jul 29, 2006)

WOW! Think when I get home this evening, I'll unpack mine and check everything just to make sure there's nothing going on in there.

Were you using beads? An Oasis? 

That's an eye opener. I think your smokes will be okay though. Just a few battle scars on them.


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## Ivory Tower (Nov 18, 2005)

Cigars for your father-in-law...  :r


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## stevieray (Sep 28, 2006)

Yikes!!! Those photos can make a grown man cry


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## Boston_Dude05 (Oct 10, 2006)

That stinks. Good thing you caught it early enough.


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## tiptone (Jul 30, 2006)

So sorry to hear about that, I feel for your loss. Hate to see them go like that.

When I first turned my cooler on I noticed that one of the humidors I had sitting on the bottom had waterspots on it. After a little looking around I noticed that condensation was building up on the little ledge around the drain hole causing it to splash on my humi and a box. I folded up a small piece of paper towel and set it on the ledge and it does a good job of preventing the splash while still allowing the moisture to drain out. I also leave all boxes and humidors towards the front of the shelves to leave plenty of open space in the back for the fan to work.


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## carni (Jan 18, 2007)

i will be praying for your cigars, that they make a safe recovery without permnant damage.


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## gene (Mar 15, 2007)

The only thing I can think to say during a situation like this is- I'm sorry and I hope it never happens to anyone again, though chances are... 
Good luck with the recovery process and I mourn with you over your losses.


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## JCK (Nov 9, 2006)

ouch.. that would definately make my heart skip a few beats. It looks like you're doing the right thing to recover the wet soldiers. SOrry to hear about the ones you lost. I hope there weren't too many.

Had you thought about cutting up the one's you tossed? Personally, I'd be curious to see how they're constructed.


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## Corona Gigante-cl (Sep 8, 2005)

Bummer. Could have been worse. Dry 'em out and smoke 'em.


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## Gargamel (Nov 8, 2004)

I have periods of paranoia when I worry about a flood coming through and destroying my stash. Just separate them and let em dry out. Not sure how soaked through they are but at one point in the past those wrappers were wet. Hope it works out well....you should know soon.


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## kjd2121 (Jul 13, 2006)

Checkout my past screwup in this thread -

http://www.clubstogie.com/vb/showthread.php?t=71171


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## piperman (Sep 8, 2005)

Soory to hear that, it does suck


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## bassrocker (Oct 26, 2006)

I know that if your humi isnt air tight it will pull in air from the outside and then condensation will form. Sorry about your smokes Bro .

Mike


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## Stonato~ (Dec 22, 2006)

I feel for ya. Other day I dropped a RASS on the floor and it cracked all over...so I can't imagine taking a hit like yours.


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## Dr_Trac (Nov 8, 2006)

holy crap...that sucks.


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## joed (Nov 12, 2005)

I don't know how you did the intitial cool down - or if the ambient humidity was high before you engaged the cooling unit - but after you get it dry - set the temperature in the cooler and let it settle - (hold a constant temp for a couple of days) before you introduce cigars. 

Go very lightly with any sort of passive humidification. If you are using beads - be very careful - in my experience they do absolutely nothing at removing humidity. I have many times found my 60% beads to be totally bone white after weeks in a humi that is rock solid at 70% - using a calibrated
hydrometer.


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## n3uka (Nov 13, 2006)

Forgot to post the follow up to this fiasco.

They are all back in the main humidor in their own new boxes. They still have the stains from the water on them but have not had any mold issues. I still check them every couple of days.

I pulled out a couple of the boli's to enjoy with friends last weekend and they smoked perfectly. I feel quite lucky to have only lost a couple of these. Now I wonder if I threw them out to quick.

Thanks for the help and advice everyone.

Oh, the wine cooler is unplugged and I turned the ac up. They are keeping perfect rh and temp is 71. I can live with that till I get my first bill :hn


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## ATLHARP (May 3, 2005)

n3uka said:


> Forgot to post the follow up to this fiasco.
> 
> They are all back in the main humidor in their own new boxes. They still have the stains from the water on them but have not had any mold issues. I still check them every couple of days.
> 
> ...


That's good to hear. Cigars are pretty resilient when it comes to these types of things. I think we don't give cigars enough credit for being as durable as they are. Indeed, when circumstances like this happen it's good to remember that things usually are not a total loss.:2

ATL


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## stashu (Aug 12, 2006)

First the Hindenburg disaster, then this.

Oh, the humanity!


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## thebiglebowski (Dec 19, 2005)

missed this thread when it originally happened. jeez - those are NOT the pics you want to see when on this site...


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## berk-m (Aug 20, 2006)

Is all of that water from the cooler or are some of those tears? 

Sorry to see that, it’s a travesty. I’ve been worried since it’s been so hot the temp in my humis gets up there some days, I was thinking about renting a locker at a shop for the summer – now I’m going to do it today. 

I’m glad it turned out ok.


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## n3uka (Nov 13, 2006)

berk-m said:


> Is all of that water from the cooler or are some of those tears?


The funny thing that happened. As I discovered the mess one of my dogs threw up at my feat. I had to decide save the cigars or the hardwood floors. 
You can hardly notice the stain on the floor 

It is all from condensation on the back wall of the fridge that collected on the bottom ledge. I had the drain hole plugged as many had advised.


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## berk-m (Aug 20, 2006)

n3uka said:


> The funny thing that happened. As I discovered the mess one of my dogs threw up at my feat. I had to decide save the cigars or the hardwood floors.
> You can hardly notice the stain on the floor
> 
> It is all from condensation on the back wall of the fridge that collected on the bottom ledge. I had the drain hole plugged as many had advised.


What a day


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